Ari Senta Yagi
Appearance Ari stands at about 5'9" and is on the slimmer side. He has messy dark hair and brown eyes that tend to sit deeply in his face and usually look narrowed. He has a strong face, a square jaw, and about a days worth of growth on his chin making him look slightly more ruffled than clean cut. For the most part he wears what he can, usually a gray suit with a brown tie and a brown jacket over top. Occasionally he throws on a black overcoat but otherwise that's mostly the dress of choice. Of course, somehow even a suit looks less put together and more thrown on when Ari wears it. There are a few things that never change though. Ari carries a lighter with a five-fold pattern on either side in one pocket and in his inner coat pocket, he keeps shards of Joyeuse in an old steel box. Personality A rather laid back person, Ari seems to almost be thriving in the apocalypse. Free cigarettes, less rules, lots of excuses to try and invent new kido... What's not to love. In all seriousness however, Ari is known for trying to remain stress free, despite the apocalyptic state of the world around him. He can often be seen smoking on the surface of the ship, or firing at random birds or fish for entertainment or feeding purposes. When it comes to the other... For lack of a better word survivors, Ari tends to try and act as a moral compass, nudging them down the right paths to keep the world around them from polluting their morals and beliefs. After all, what's the point of eliminating the Seraphim if they have to become worse than them to do it? Ari tends to try and avoid fighing, seeing it as distasteful, and when he does fight rarely does so using anything other than low-level kido. Ari believes that if it's not a fight you can safely win, it's not a fight worth fighting, and if he has to use high end kido to win, he'd be better off running. Ari tends to find using his Zanpakuto to be distasteful, especially now that it's broken. Ari has a hard time fully coming to grips with the loss of his inner world. This is due to the fact that despite how little he used his Zanpakuto, he still conversed with it often. Having lost that part of his soul, having lost a place that once brought peace in times of conflict and doubt has taken it's toll on Ari, leaving him a bit melancholy when the subject is brought up. Ari has an experimentive side, and enjoys exploring with Kido, hence his proficiency in Kijin and his ability to heal minor wounds and ailments. When brought a new branch of Kido to explore, or given an idea for a new spell, Ari can often disappear for days in one of the abandoned sections of the ship that were simply gathering dust or used for storage. Despite age being relative for Shinigami and Arrancar, Ari is still semi-sensitive about his apparent age, especially surrounded by so many 'young' people, and will often react unfavorably towards remarks made in that direction. Ari considers the living world a lost cause, and would much rather reclaim the Seireitei and the Rukongai than even attempt at taking the living world from the Seraphim, believing that the living world could be left to the Seraphim to keep, or simply left for the humans to deal with if they really wanted it back so much. Ari feels Shinigami as a whole are far too reliant on Zanpakuto, and has chosen to fight without it in order to avoid that weakness. This has led to Joyeuse refusing to repair itself in an attempt to teach Ari a lesson, something that frustrates the shinigami to no end. Ari is known to be fairly reckless and overconfident when drunk, and is known to do stupid things such as blow holes in buildings, challenge captains to fights, etc. History Ari's life was not exactly spectacular. He wasn't overly traumatized as a child, didn't do drugs. Had a slight smoking problem, but when you're already dead, who cares? It wasn't until he entered the academy that Ari was seen as anything but garden variety. Sure, his sword skills had seen better days, and he was far from punching holes in cement. But he was good with Kido. Not top of his class, no, that was Seika, but he was good. So good in fact, that after the academy, and a short stint in the fourth division learning to heal, Ari and Seika were inducted into the Kido Corps. Here, Ari's kido abilities blossomed, as well as his ability to utilize them to their fullest. While Ari was slow to reach higher levels of kido, but his ability to utilize the kido in his reach allowed him to remain quite successful at his job. However, soon Seika and Ari's paths seperated. Ari continued moving down the kido corps path, while Seika seemed to withdraw from his companions, focusing more on his sword skills and spending long amounts of time meditating with his Zanpakuto. Which was his decision, but Ari wanted more from life. Namely, more entertainment. Well, any entertainment really, since he currently had none. So, when the Kido Corps was merged with the thirteenth division, something Ari protested vehemently due to the fact that the Kido Corps was not a part of the Gotei 13, and to connect it to such was to strip it of it's individuality and bind it to the same limitations and idiocies of the Gotei 13... But he wasn't asked, and there wasn't much he could do about it. So when the Kido corps was merged with the thirteenth division, Ari took advantage of that to take missions. Such as hollow control and guarding the living world. Not a glamorous life, no, but it allowed Ari to epxlore the world officially. Of course, this led to.... Unfortunate confrontations between Ari and another Shinigami who seemed to enjoy spending her time fighting hollows. Not really confrontations per se, more like... Ari nearly boring a hole in her skull with a drunkenly fired Byakurai. Which led to her cutting his cigarette in half along with nearly decapitating him. Which led to him purposefully nearly boring a hole in her skull. And so on and so forth. But, as the horse learns to tolerate the annoying fly, Ari learned to tolerate the angry woman. Or the woman learned to tolerate the easy going, somewhat annoying shinigami. Take your pick. So, after a lot of bruises, scars, and threats being made to a certain drunken mans genitals, the pair got off to a lovely friendship. A friendship that pretty much saved Ari's life during the final battle. Having spent his time using Pandy to get his hollow hunting missions completed without actually having to do them, Ari grew fond of the girl. So, during the final confrontation between the Seraphim and the others, when the worlds merged and Ari found Pandora and her brother fighting a Seraphim, well suffice it to say he found it difficult to not get involved. But he didn't get involved directly, Pandora would never forgive him. Instead he made sure the family could have their private quarrel, firing upon any would be interferers from a distance. It wasn't until the Seraphim in question took notice of this that Ari had an issue, namely a powerful kido being hurled towards him that actually managed to overheat Joyeuse to the point of breaking it. Forced to fight with only Kido, Ari did his best to keep his friend and her brother covered, but ultimately was forced to withdraw and wait his chance. When Pandy fell, and her opponent retreated, Ari moved to her side to heal her. Only for her to tell him to wait until no one could see. She wanted everyone to think her dead, and so Ari watched her bleed out until the others left, and then he took her away to a remote location to heal her. It was a short matter than to take her to someone she trusted to hide her away, before healing her quickly. It was than an easy matter to create a pile of ash on the ground, name it Pandy, and fake her death. After a touching ceremony, and a lot of convincing, life went on. Joyeuse refused to repair himself, Ryuu refused to let even a scratch on his boat go without bitching a storm, and Pandy refused to admit to the world she wasn't dead. But.... What's life without a little chaos here and there. Powers and Abilities Shunpo Kaido Kido (#1-#64) Kijin Kijin is a fighting style in which Kido and Zanjutsu are used in tandem, and is used by kido masters to augment their weaknesses in other areas. Gekido- A maneuver unique to Ari, this is a modified version of Tenran in which Ari throws the shards of Joyeuse into the vortex. The shards will cut anything caught within the vortex to shreds. A second Tenran in the reverse direction then recalls the shards towards Ari, where they are caught in the tin once more. Netsujo- A maneuver in which the user employs the use of Sho to increase the force behind their swing. Ari has been known to use this on shards, turning them into projectiles, as well as small stones or twigs. Batsu- Something Ari's learned to do thanks to his Shikai, Batsu involves firing a kido against the edge of a blade. Usually done with Byakurai, if the blade is strong enough, it cuts the kido in two, sending each part into a different direction. Zanpakutō Ari's Zanpakuto is named Joyeuse, and is currently existing in the form of two inches of steel still connected to a hilt, and a series of shards contained in a box in his coat. Inner World Ari's inner world takes the form of a large raised platform. In each corner of the platform stands a large stone statue of a guardian, each with an orb in one hand. Joyeuse- Shikai When it wasn't broken, Joyeuse was a rather ornate Zanpakuto with an intricate hilt, and scorch marks along it's sheath. As a Zanpakuto spirit, Joyeuse has a flair for the dramatic, and is quite calm. He is the responsiblity to Ari's happy-go-lucky nature. He often chastises Ari for his sloppy appearance, and urges Ari to take more effort and attention into his work. In battle, Joyeuse tries to fire Ari up, and has often prodded Ari into conflicts he could have otherwise avoided. Due to this Ari and Joyeuse share a love/hate relationship, in which Ari enjoys Joyeuse's company and enjoys talking to the spirit, but he feels he cannot trust Joyeuse, and worries he will become too reliant on its abilities, leading him to using only Kido, which has led Joyeuse to refuse to repair itself in a spiteful attempt to teach Ari a lesson. Release command: Steal their breath In it's shikai state, Joyeuse takes the form of a long sword with runes etched into it's length. When charged with Reiatsu, the blade turns red. Josho Netsu By enveloping his blade with his Reiatsu, Ari can turn Joyeuse to a red state. In this state, Joyeuse cannot cut his opponents, but instead cuts reishi. Usually done through using his own Kido, Ari can fire blasts into the blade, heating it up. Each Kido the blade is hit by lights up a rune on the blades length, measuring the blade's heat growing. When a kido or cero comes into contact with the blade, it is either cut in half and split to either side, or reflected off of the blade and redirected into a different direction. Jōshō no honō Jōshō no honō Using the heat built up by Jōshō netsu, Ari stabs Joyeuse into the air towards his opponent. Each rune that was lit up along the blade forms into another salvo for this attack, firing a fire ball at a long distance towards his opponent. This ability is mostly used for sniping purposes, meant to incinerate opponents before they could get into range. Joyeuse- Bankai (Not yet Achieved) Joyeuse can not go into Bankai until all six runes on it's blade have been lit up, meaning Ari can choose between using his Shikai offensively or using Bankai. When using Bankai, Ari is surrounded by six small floating spheres. The spheres radiate light and heat, making Ari difficult to look at directly. The runes etched into Joyeuse disappear in Bankai, but the blade will still shine red if Reiatsu is poured into it. Netsu Kakudai Used from the spheres around him, Ari is capable of firing beams of light and heat towards an opponent, burning them on impact. This technique is slow aiming, but highly accurate, albeit easily dodged. Ari can augment this by focusing a beam or even all six beams into the flat end of Joyeuse's blade, reflecting the beams towards a single target. WHen done with one beam this allows Ari to follow his opponent with it, instead of firing at a specified designation. When done with all six beams this creates a far more powerful attack, at the risk of burning Ari himself. Once a sphere has fired, it dissipates, and when all six have been fired the Bankai is ended. Statistics Trivia Optional. Quotes Optional. Gallery Ari Yagi4.jpg Ari Yagi3.jpg Ari Yagi2.png Ari Yagi1.jpg Genesis.png|Joyeuse's spirit form.